Queen Mother's coffin taken from Windsor to London

<br>LONDON (AP) _ Accompanied by longtime servants and watched by hundreds of silent strangers, the coffin of the Queen Mother Elizabeth was brought to rest Tuesday in an elegant 17th-century chapel at

Tuesday, April 2nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ Accompanied by longtime servants and watched by hundreds of silent strangers, the coffin of the Queen Mother Elizabeth was brought to rest Tuesday in an elegant 17th-century chapel at St. James's Palace.

Mourners gathered outside to pay their respects, while inside the Queen's Chapel a small group of royal staff attended a brief service for the royal matriarch, who died Saturday at age 101.

``Rest eternal grant unto her O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon her,'' said William Booth, sub-dean of the Chapels Royal.

The Queen Mother's coffin, draped in her personal flag and crowned by a wreath of pink camellias, had been driven the 25 miles from Windsor Castle in a hearse flanked by police motorcycle outriders.

Piper Jim Motherwell played a Highland lament, ``The Dark Island,'' in tribute to the Queen Mother's Scottish roots, as the coffin was carried out of Windsor's Royal Chapel of All Saints.

Small groups of people stood along the route from Windsor, and in London hundreds lined The Mall and gathered outside Buckingham Palace. Some bowed their heads while others applauded as the procession passed.

The crowds were small and somber, as they have been since the Queen Mother's death. Thousands of people have signed condolence books across the country, and hundreds of cards and bouquets have been left outside the Queen Mother's homes in England and Scotland. But the death for many was an occasion for sadness not shock, because of her great age.

Many Britons felt a strong affection for the Queen Mother, who _ as queen consort of King George VI _ refused to leave London during World War II and visited families who had been bombed in the Blitz.

``I'm proud to call myself a patriot and I thought it right to give the old girl a proper send-off,'' said Len Burnett, a 56-year-old market trader from east London who watched the procession near Buckingham Palace.

``She was a wonderful woman, who symbolized the traditions of Great Britain,'' said another east Londoner, Rebecca Townsend.

At St. James's Palace, the coffin was carried into the Queen's Chapel, where the body of the Queen Mother's younger daughter, Princess Margaret, lay seven weeks ago.

Members of the royal family are expected to visit before Friday, when the coffin will be moved to Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament to lie in state. The public will be able to pay their respects before a funeral service at Westminster Abbey on April 9.

Queen Elizabeth II remained at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, emerging to ride in Windsor Great Park with her daughter, Princess Anne.